1. MARUAH’s view is that the government has not articulated a clear case for new legislation against Deliberate Online Falsehoods (DOF). Existing laws can already be used and have been used against DOF in Singapore and overseas.

2. There is a very high risk that any legislative action will stifle free speech and may be used against the legitimate expression of dissenting views.

3. In the event that the government still feels compelled to enact any laws against DOF, such laws must be balanced and not result in the removal of legitimate content including political debate. All parties affected must be given the chance to present their case and take-down orders issued only by a court of law.

MARUAH participated in the public consultation sessions on the draft Healthcare Services Act (HCSA) and submitted its feedback to the Ministry of Health (MOH). Among the provisions of the HCSA is a requirement that all medical service providers upload data on their patients into a national medical database without giving individuals the right to opt-out. Conversely, the draft bill does not give individuals the right to access all of the data being held on them in the National Electronic Health Records (NEHR) database. MOH has softened its stance on allowing individuals to opt-out and has indicated that it would voluntarily allow individuals to access some of their own data but there are still obvious privacy concerns in the NEHR.
While we are broadly supportive of the aims of the HCSA and the NEHR, the privacy protections and rights of access for patients in the draft Bill are inadequate and should be strengthened.

MARUAH’s feedback on the HCSA and NEHR is appended below. For more information on the HCSA, see MOH’s website at http://www.hcsa.sg

Civil society activist Jolovan Wham was arrested and charged with organizing public assemblies without a permit, vandalism and refusal to sign statements made to the police. The protests that Mr Wham is charged with leading are well-documented in mainstream and social media, and it is readily apparent that none of them posed a credible threat to public order. Mr Wham’s actions are merely public criticisms of the government’s stance on detention without trial, capital punishment and free speech. It is revealing that in the police press release announcing the arrest of Mr Wham, the police make a great deal of Mr Wham’s “recalcitrance” as if he were a child defying parental authority.

Singapore’s Constitution guarantees citizens of Singapore the right to freedom of speech and expression, and the right to assemble peaceably. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers” while Article 20 (1) provides that “Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association.”

MARUAH urges the government to drop the charges against Mr Wham and to remove all unnecessary and unreasonable restrictions on the right to free speech, expression, and assembly in Singapore.